Share This Story!

Camp confidential: White Sox fast-forward their plan

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Oops. That might be the most refreshing thing a general manager has ever said. Not that any of them would ever want to, but that one brutally honest word sums up how the Chicago White

Camp confidential: White Sox fast-forward their plan

Note: USA TODAY Sports' Paul White, via car, causeway, plane and rail, will eventually reach every major league camp this spring. Follow his exploits on Twitter -@PBJWhite- as he makes his way through the Cactus and Grapefruit leagues before imparting all you didn't know about every team right here.

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Oops.

That might be the most refreshing thing a general manager has ever said.

Not that any of them would ever want to, but that one brutally honest word sums up how the Chicago White Sox suddenly are moving forward.

In fairness, general manager Rick Hahn used different – and more – words.

"We were coming off a team in 2012 that was in first place for 120-plus days, fourth in the league in offense, had some veteran pitching," he says. "We just tweaked the 2012 roster. Obviously, that didn't work at all."

And 99 losses later, the White Sox are where Hahn knew they'd eventually have to be – building toward 2015 – and ahead of schedule.

"If I rewind a year ago or even 15 months ago when I took over as GM, we had a decision to make," says Hahn, who replaced the promoted Kenny Williams. "It was clear that the 2015 season was going to be different, just based on the fact that (Alex) Rios' contract and (Adam) Dunn's were going to be up – likely (Paul) Konerko and (Jake) Peavy. The '15 team was going to be different."

Well, the '14 team is different because the '13 squad turned out to be so bad.

"When you lose 99 games, the list of things that need to be addressed is fairly long," Hahn says. "One of the silver linings is that we were able to get a start on retooling this thing at the last trade deadline."

Peavy went to Boston in a three-way deal at the deadline that brought in outfield prospect Avisail Garcia. Rios went to Texas as much as anything else to get his $12.5 million for this year off the books.

Savings for this year and beyond made the White Sox players and winners for Cuban slugger Jose Abreu.

A trade in the offseason brought in powerful third base prospect Matt Davidson, another landed center fielder/leadoff man Adam Eaton.

"It quickens a process," Hahn says. "We certainly haven't addressed all of our issues. It's going to take some time. We feel like we've added some young building blocks to this offense to hopefully turn this thing over more quickly than people expect."

And make the point that turnover certainly is in play.

"When you lose like we did last year, it should open players' eyes that there are going to be changes," Hahn says. "But until there actually is that level of turnover, I don't know if it really resonates."

He likes the reaction, isn't particularly concerned about the reason.

"Looking at the players who have gone through it, you see a different approach, a different energy, a different excitement right now than we finished (last) year with," Hahn says. "I don't know if it's because they feel more urgency because there have been changes or just excitement about the direction we're going."

Doesn't matter – they're going.

"We're not writing off 2014," Hahn says in statement that's pretty much required of him. "We're preparing to try to contend in 2014 while realizing this is a process. Coming off where we were and trying to get where we want to be probably is going to take more time."

Replicating the last year's process and progress just might do it.

"It might not be possible to bring in four from the outside to be impact-type guys," Hahn says. But that was part of the look-to-'15 plan in the first place.

That's when the White Sox can realistically hope for help from the farm system – pitcher Erik Johnson, who could be in this year's rotation, shortstop Marcus Semien, second baseman Micah Johnson.

"I feel like we've moved the chains but I'm certainly realistic in that, no, we're not in the red zone yet," Hahn says, maybe showing deference to his immediate boss Williams, who got to the major leagues despite playing football and not baseball at Stanford.

Hahn knows Williams has that football intensity, as does owner Jerry Reinsdorf, not to mention the fans, who got used to having only three losing seasons – plus a World Series win – in 12 years before the 2013 season, the franchise's worst in 43 years.

"I'm not just looking for band-aids or quick fixes or trying to get back to .500 as quickly as possible or to get to the second wild card as quickly as possible," Hahn says. "We need to get this thing right as quickly as possible."

If the White Sox indeed needed to shake up a 99-loss team, what better way than to throw a little dynamite into the room?

"I've always been told dynamite comes in small packages," says new center fielder Adam Eaton, who was all but ready to explode as soon as he got to the White Sox after an off-season trade from Arizona.

He's the 5-foot-8 dynamo who lists Dustin Pedroia as his immediate role model and whose style of play is as important to the White Sox as his production.

"He certainly brings a high level of energy and a high level of pitch-to-pitch intensity that was lacking, frankly, last year," says Hahn. "While it's not on him alone to supply that culture, he certainly represents where we want to get to and I think other guys feel that."

He'll take the assignment.

"We had a conversation when we traded for him about what we precisely were looking for from him," Hahn says. "He got excited."

Eaton plays excited. He shows up for work excited. The White Sox want him to start games with excitement from the leadoff spot.

"I'm not very big," he says. "I'm not the most skilled player out there. I just find a way to get the job done and get it done with energy, help the ballclub wins games in any way, shape or form."

Eaton was supposed to do this last year – halfway across the country for a Diamondbacks team that was similarly trying to inject some finesse into a big-swing lineup.

But an elbow injury late in spring training kept him out until July.

"Three months later we found ourselves on kind of a different spectrum of baseball," Eaton says of never being much than a part-timer after being in the pre-season Rookie of the Year conversation. "I feel like I've let down a couple of people. Put me down for your all-sophomore team. I'll produce."

Just getting to April 15 would be a good start. That's when the Red Sox come to Chicago.

Figure on Eaton finding a way to second base any which way possible. And expect some chatter from a couple of similarly sized bundles of energy who haven't yet met.

"I always look at Dustin Pedroia as a guy I look up to," Eaton says. "He's always looking for motivation. He's done it all. He's an MVP, won a World Series. And he continues to look for that motivation and he finds it with people who doubt his size."

Right now, Eaton is wearing out his teammates. Part of his job, he says.

"This is what spring training is for," he says. "I talk to (likely No. 2 hitter Gordon) Beckham and some of the guys who hit behind me:

'What do you want to try to do today?

'Let's try to do something different.

'Let's try to get something going.

'If I do this, let's hit and run.

'If I'm on second and you're on first and want to double steal this is how I'll look at you.'

"Just try to bond and figure out how each other is going to play."

He's talked with Beckham and Adam Dunn and Paul Konerko. What are their preferences for when he runs?

"I've heard anywhere from, 'I don't like you to run here,' to, 'I don't care when you run, just as long as you get into scoring position.'

"It's all coming along. This is what spring training is for."

And it needs to last.

"A year ago, I was in the same position a week before camp broke," Eaton says. "I think I was hitting like .380, .390, ready to break camp, felt like I earned a spot on the team. This game moves pretty fast."

And that's exactly what he's here for.

Late-night vacancy

Maybe fantasy players care but the White Sox hardly are concerned about who's going to close games.

It's a legitimate question with Addison Reed and his 40 saves from last season traded to Arizona in the deal that brought Matt Davidson.

"We feel confident we're going to find a guy," Hahn says.

Maybe they'll go back to an old formula that worked well -- whoever.

Not the dreaded closer by committee, which usually ends up more threat than reality.

"This organization has been able to produce back-end guys fairly regularly, going back '05 when we had three different guys close," says Hahn.

That '05 season was the only one in which the White Sox won a World Series in the past 96 years. It also was Year 5 in a six-year stretch in which six different pitchers led the team in saves.

Actually, six pitchers had saves that season, led by Dustin Hermanson's 34. But there also were multiple saves from Bobby Jenks, Shingo Takatsu and Damaso Marte, plus one each from Cliff Politte and Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez.

Nate Jones is the most likely candidate to step up this year from a set-up role. He hasn't allowed a run this spring. He also was spectacular in 2012, pitching in a pro career-high 65 games, not so much last year as the game count went up to 70.

He has no career saves. In fact, nobody in camp has as many in his career as Reed has last season.

"We weren't looking to move Addison Reed," Hahn says. "You don't like trading 40-save guys who are relatively young but we view third base as difficult to fill."

Matt Lindstrom, 34, is the veteran with the most closing experience – 34 career saves – but he's battled an oblique strain all spring.

"Lindstrom has to get healthy to stabilize the back," of the bullpen, Hahn says. "We do have a nice mix in Lindstrom, (Ronald) Belisario, guys who have been there before like Scott Downs. Young guys like (Daniel) Webb and (Jake) Petricka and (Maikel) Cleto, the kid we just claimed off waivers.

"Relievers are tough to predict but we have the arms there and a nice track record in this organization of being able to develop back-end guys."

March 25: Oakland Athletics first baseman Brandon Moss, right, is congratulated by teammate Yoenis Cespedes after hitting a three-run home run in the second inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Phoenix Municipal Stadium
Mark J. Rebilas, USA TODAY Sports

March 24: Oakland Athletics third baseman Josh Donaldson crashes into the wall trying to catch a foul ball against the Seattle Mariners in the third inning at Peoria Sports Complex.
Rick Scuteri Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

March 22: Texas Rangers center fielder Michael Choice is high-rived by teammates after hitting a home run in the eighth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Surprise Stadium.
Joe Camporeale, USA TODAY Sports

Feb. 26: Cleveland Indians right fielder Carlos Moncrief catches a fly ball hit by Cincinnati Reds' Kristopher Negron at the right field wall. The wall displays an advertisement for a homebuilder.
Paul Sancya, AP

Feb. 6: The Arizona Diamondbacks are the first team to report for spring training. Pitcher Brandon McCarthy plays catch on the first day of camp at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick in Scottsdale. Ariz.
Tom Tingle, The Arizona Republic